On the origin and structure of liquid crystalline Blue Phase III

TL;DR

This study uses molecular dynamics simulations to explore the origin and structure of Blue Phase III in chiral liquid crystals, revealing how molecular properties influence its stability and layered forms.

Contribution

It demonstrates that specific molecular interactions and elongation are key to the formation and stability of BPIII and its layered variants, providing new insights into their structure.

Findings

Stable BPIII can be achieved with appropriate chiral and dipolar strengths.

Layered BPIII structures such as Smectic and Bilayered forms are observed.

Molecular elongation critically influences the occurrence of BPIII.

Abstract

The origin and structure of self assembled chiral liquid crystalline Blue Phase III (BPIII) have remained an enigma despite efforts spreading over decades. We report here an off-lattice NVT molecular dynamics simulation study of a system of polar chiral ellipsoidal molecules, which spontaneously exhibits BPIII , considering coarse-grained attractive-repulsive pair interaction appropriate for anisotropic liquid crystal mesogens. We have observed that suitable selection of chiral and dipolar strengths not only gives rise to thermodynamically stable BPIII but novel Smectic and Bilayered BPIII as well. Further, we have demonstrated that occurence of BPIII and its layered counterparts depend crucially on molecular elongation.